John Riddell: Democracy in Lenin's Comintern

How did Communist parties handle issues of internal discipline and democracy in Lenin’s time? The recent intense discussion within the British Socialist Workers’ Party (SWP) and beyond has heard claims that the SWP rests on the traditions of democratic centralism inherited from the Bolsheviks.

Richard Atkinson: Death and the Bedroom Tax

Some extended thoughts about Stephanie Bottrill, the woman who committed suicide because of the bedroom tax.

Dave Renton: Who Was Blair Peach?

Today marks the 35th anniversary of the killing of Blair Peach by the police. David Renton looks back at Blair Peach’s life as a poet, trade unionist and committed antifascist

The current SWP crisis has hit SWSS groups across the country incredibly hard and thus QM SWSS have been unable to build a revolutionary current on our campus. We are under fire from external groups on the one hand, and internal pressures on the other. Other left groups and activists on our campus have voiced their discontent with the way recent events in the party have been handled and have isolated us from working with them in the future. Broad left Student Union election slates, which we formerly stood on with great success, have been closed to us. Our wider periphery no longer wishes to work with us. Leading trade unionists and left academics in our departments have ended the previously good working relationships we held with them. The handling of recent events has meant QM SWSS cannot be an effective interventionist party on campus. The party apparatus has offered us little support: there has been complete indifference to arranging SWSS meetings and stalls and individual comrades have been repeatedly asked to consider leaving the party if they do not feel comfortable to hold the line on recent issues. QM SWSS cannot hold the line on what we believe to be a poorly handled and severely unacceptable turn of events.

We feel we are being asked to defend the indefensible. We are concerned with what we heard at conference regarding the Disputes Committee case. We are proud of having been part of a party that fights hard for women's liberation and do not therefore feel the party has acted in line with our politics. Particularly, the types of questions that the women involved were asked were completely unacceptable for a vanguard party, aiming to be at the helm of liberation, to ask and this has not been accounted for. We are further horrified by the way the women involved were treated in their branches and districts in the pre-conference period. We feel as though being dissatisfied with the way in which disputes handled the case has been treated as a grave crime, while bullying, vilifying and verbally abusing the women involved has been treated an acceptable political tactic. We ourselves have witnessed inexcusable behaviour surrounding this case, taken our complaints to our leadership, and they have failed to act.

As mentioned, we are particularly concerned with emerging arguments around dissent, in which those unable to hold the line are encouraged to leave the party. We do not stand in such a tradition; that is to say, this is not the party of the leadership or the apparatus, but of all of the members. Encouragement from the centre to leave is not how the party has traditionally grown and developed, or it is certainly not how we will grow as a party. To paraphrase Tony Cliff, every member is gold dust. We are yet further concerned by the seeming ‘punishments’ the CC has issued to those who have been seen to have dissented, coming down particularly hard on students. Well respected full timers have been moved, or completely removed from party apparatus. We see no political reasons for doing this and feel it is simply an act of retribution. For the party to grow, particularly on our campuses, we urge the leadership not to treat capable full timers as expendable just because of their relationship with the students or position on recent issues, particularly as members of the apparatus who have received formal complaints about their conduct in recent months have not been held to account. Leading student comrades are being blocked from taking on key roles within the national student movement, or on their individual campuses, for seemingly little more than being involved in a faction fight at conference. It is politically frustrating to be forced to remind the leadership that factions are perfectly legitimate tools at conference, and to punish those that were involved in them does not reflect healthy democratic centralism. We do not discourage debate, crush dissent or encourage minority opinions to leave the party. This is not the Bolshevik tradition.